Just Another Day
by RockPaperRuby
Summary: Claire's life is just as it has been for a while - miserable. But the appearance of one Shane Collins in Morganville High might be able to change that. (T to be safe and this is my first fanfiction so please be nice and R&R)
1. Chapter 1

Claire's Point Of View

I sat on the corner of my bed staring at my hands. I had some small cuts from where I had bit my nails too much and some dirt from the bins, but the deep gashes on my arms had been hidden by my bed shirt. I looked around the small room that I lived in. The filthy mattress in the corner, a stack of old second hand books next to it and a messy pile of clothes on the other side of the room. _This is my life. _I stalked over to the clothes and tried to pick out the cleanest shirt and jeans. I settled for a black long-sleeved t-shirt, with only a few splashes of mud on it, and some clean blue jeans. _This is as good as it gets._ I slipped them on quickly and grabbed my worn backpack that was next to my 'bed'. There was no mirror in the room so I had to blindly pull my mousey brown hair back into a ponytail, slipped my tattered shoes on and walked to the door.

I sulked through the complicated maze of streets to get to the black bars of Morganville High School. _Just lovely. _There were a few students that lingered around the gates, smoking and what not, but I decided that I was going to go straight to English, mainly to avoid… well… people. I am quite an introvert. I weaved through the corridors and thought I was safe. _You wish. _I felt my foot being pulled from under me mid-stride and the inevitable occurred. I fell rather gracelessly to the floor; my books and papers flung around me and flittered to the ground. People in the hall gathered, pointing and laughing. The odd picture was taken.

I just kept my head down and tried to gather my books up and leave as soon as possible. But as I was about to pick up my last book a black-booted foot slammed down on it. _Well shit. _I looked up to be greeted by the sneering face of Monica Morrell. Her hair had recently been died honey blonde and fell beautifully around her shoulders, framing her perfect face seamlessly. She had on a mini (barely legal) skirt on and red skin tight top. She looked like any teenaged boys dream. _Not again__. _

"Oh Claire!" She gasped sarcastically, still smiling. "Honey-bun, do you want some help?" She raised one of her perfectly plucked eye brows and outstretched her hand. Her nails were long and painted a sickly hot pink. _I don't really need that book. _I thought as I turned to stand up by myself. My back was to her as she grabbed my shoulder and tugged so I fell backwards, and landed rather clumsily on my butt. People started to laugh harder and film the little show. Monica leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Bitch I offered you help, you don't just ignore me." She stood back for a while and when I thought it was safe to get up she shoved me back down for good measure, thus scattering my books once more. New people had gathered and most of them were laughing, but I didn't concentrate too much on them.

The bell rang loudly and the crowd dispersed, including Monica. The hall way emptied almost instantly. I assumed it was safe to move and start collecting my books. I still kept my head bowed. I noticed a hand on my shoulder and quickly slapped it away and shuffled awkwardly from the boy standing in front of me now, who was now looking shocked.

"P-please j-j-just leave me alone." I managed to stutter. I had backed up into a wall and curled up, waiting for the punches to start. But I only felt a hand on my arm. I looked up from the tangle of my limbs and the boy's face was inches from mine. He had relatively long brown hair, which was perfectly (and effortlessly) mused – just verging on messy. He had lightly tanned skin free from blemishes and soft brown eyes. He stared right back at me. I hadn't seen him before.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said firmly. All I could do was stare back into his eyes. _I could get used to this._ Suddenly I felt very self-conscious and looked down at my hands.

"I h-haven't seen y-you before…" My voice was a nervous squeak and I immediately felt embarrassed.

"I'm new, moved here last week. I'm Shane Collins." I looked back at him and he hadn't moved away, but he was now smiling softly. It was a nice smile, the kind that wasn't usually directed at me. It only used half of his mouth and should have looked crooked and strange, but just looked kind and, if I'm honest, incredibly sexy.

"Oh… well I'm Claire Danvers."

Shane's Point Of View

_Claire Danvers. _She looked terrified, and I felt like I should move back but I really didn't want to. She had a very small frame, and arched her back in a way that screamed _don't talk to me._ Her hair was pulled back in a simple knot, but her face was anything _but_ simple. She had big dark eyes that looked so sad. One was shaded with a large blue bruise. She had full lips which had a big split placed on the corner. She had deathly pale skin but her cheeks were very pink.

"What happened?" I asked as softly as I could as I touched her black eye. She winced. I don't know why but I felt very protective over Claire.

"Oh… I-I fell." She lied.

"Oh… _fell… _Well if you aren't going to tell me the truth about the black eye then why don't you tell me why you were lying on the floor?" I wouldn't let her get away _that_ easily.

"Monica." She whispered. Tears were forming in her eyes and I felt horrible. I shouldn't have pushed the issue. She obviously didn't want to talk about it. _Shane, you douche. _Tears began to roll down her cheeks. Before I knew what I was doing I lifted my hand and wiped them away, focusing on her skin. I looked back at her eyes and they were looking straight back into mine. My face was only about two inches away from hers and I slowly closed my eyes and began to lean forward, giving her plenty of time to pull away. But to me surprise, she didn't. I felt a pair of unresponsive lips pressed against mine. But after a second they reacted to my touch. I pressed my lips against hers more forcefully and she pushed right back. _What the hell am I doing?_

I slowly licked her lips, but before she could respond there was a loud (and fake) cough from behind us. I backed up and turned leisurely, smiling like an idiot. I was greeted by the unimpressed face of the school receptionist. I moved and leaning my back against the wall, next to Claire. I looked over to her and she was blushing furiously and looking down at her hands.

"Well?" The receptionist prompted. "What are you two doing?" I almost snorted. _Wasn't it kind of obvious? _But I bit my tongue. Claire started to mumble out an apology but I talked over her.

"Sorry Miss, it was my fault." She huffed.

"Detention, both of you. Now hurry up and get to class, you are already…" She looked down at her watch and gasped in horror, "seven minutes late! Go on, get to your classes." Claire scrambled to get her books from the floor, as the receptionist strutted away, and was up and walking away in record time, with her head bent. I stood up and jogged over to her, taking the books she was juggling and sorted them out.

"So what lesson do you have now?" I asked as she walked silently beside me.

"Oh, ummm, English, you?" She asked tentatively.

"English too, with Mr…" I paused, trying to remember the name.

"Mr Martin?" She asked.

"Yeah, I guess we're in the same class." I smiled to myself. We soon reached the door and I knocked loudly. I heard a distant _Come in _from in the class room, and entered my first lesson of Morganville High.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire's Point Of View

We walked into the English class room and I felt every pair of eyes on me and Shane. The room was relatively big with a whole wall covered in windows but I suddenly felt very claustrophobic. Mr Martin stood at the front of the class staring at us looking unimpressed. He was old, about sixty, and had thinning grey hair that he had styled in a comb over – never a good look for an aging man. His cream shirt was tucked into his brown trousers, which were pulled up past his bulging stomach. And his face was cold with deep lines forming a frown on his large forehead.

"Can you both explain why you are late?" He asked harshly. _Shit._

"Ummm, sir… sorry but I was…" I was trying to mumble out an excuse but Shane cut me off.

"Sorry sir," He began confidently. "Claire had dropped her books," He cut a harsh glance to Monica who was staring dreamily at him. But he looked away before he could see the flirtatious wave and wink she directed at him. To be honest, I couldn't blame her, he was sexy, but I suddenly wanted to jump over to her and pull her head off. And I'm not even a violent person. Shane continued. "And I was just helping pick them up."

Mr Martin looked doubtful. "It took you…" He looked up at the clock on the wall, "nine minutes to do that?" he challenged.

Shane wasn't even fazed. "She hurt her foot, so we had to walk slowly." Sir still didn't believe us, that much was obvious, but he let it be.

"Fine, just…" he sighed heavily. "Just sit down." He looked back at the class. "And class, this is Shane Collins; he is new here so I expect you all to be on your best behaviours. Now…" He started to drone on about how we will be studying the works of Shakespeare but no one was listening, they were still gawking at me and Shane. There was a spare double desk near the front of the class room, but Monica had shoved one of her 'best friends' out of their seat and patted the chair for Shane to sit down. But all Shane did was snort – _snort_ – And sit in one of the double seats, motioning for me to sit with him. Well I didn't need to be asked twice.

My back was to the class but I could almost feel the glares of the students burning through my body. Shane _still_ wasn't fazed. I rested my hand on the table and lent back, trying desperately to concentrate on the teacher and not the class behind me. But after a few seconds, Shane's hand held mine. I was shocked and looked over to him, but he was still looking at the teacher. I quickly turned back to face to front of the room to avoid looking like an idiot. It had been a while since I felt like I had someone there for me, and it was really nice. I knew that Shane wouldn't be there for long, he'd probably be gone by tomorrow, but just at that moment I told my brain to shut up and clasped Shane's hand tightly.

Shane's Point Of View

I reached over and took her hand in mine. It was cold and clammy but somehow it felt right. Her skin was soft and the weight of her hand in mine was solid and… real. I felt her tense and look at me sharply and I was suddenly scared that she would pull away. But she soon relaxed and looked away. She soon squeezed my hand tightly. I tried to focus on the teacher and his ramblings on Shakespeare but my brain wouldn't stop thinking about Claire. I looked down at our intertwined fingers. It looked so perfect, but I couldn't help but notice some faded scars across the inside of her arm. _The thing in the hall wasn't a one off. _Some small voice whispered in the back of my head. _She is just some attention-seeking little girl. _But I pushed those thoughts away; if Claire is doing this to herself I needed to help. I was always useless and selfish; I wouldn't bother with anything that didn't benefit me. Claire was my chance to make everything right, and I wasn't about to lose her.

English lasted for an hour but as soon as Mr Martin had stopped babbling on (which only lasted for five minutes or so) he gave us text books and told us to do the questions while he sat at the computer checking his emails. I looked over at Claire but she was looking down at the desk.

"Hey." I said warmly. Her head shot up and she looked truly panicked. But she relaxed at the sight of my smile.

"Hi…" She was blushing but didn't look away. Well that was until a hand pulled her shoulder backwards. "What the-?"

"Hey there Shane, sorry you got stuck with Claire here." Monica had popped her head around Claire, pushing Claire back. I could tell that she was purposefully ignoring my hand that was holding Claire's. Claire made a stifled squeak of pain and tried to shift away from Monica, thus tearing our hands apart.

"Hey, do you want to let go of Claire?" I asked sternly. I was pissed that she was treating Claire like she was below her.

Monica looked at me, genuinely surprised, but when she saw my angry face she exclaimed, "Oh Claire! I'm so sorry." She let go of Claire but sat on the table, closer to me. She flipped her hair and batted her eyelashes. "So how have you been liking the school so far?" Safe topic for a new kid I guess.

"It's ok I guess, but it seems a little rough. I mean Claire was just lying on the floor out there." I challenged. I could feel Claire tense up beside me so I grabbed her hand, placing it on the table so Monica couldn't ignore it. I saw Monica look at our hands and her expression hardened.

"I know it's horrible." She said in a flat tone. I didn't add anything to the conversation and eventually she took the hint. "Well… bye, I guess…" She slowly stood up, looking dazed, and walked away, obviously not used to being rejected.

"Well that was fun." I sighed. Claire looked up at me and laughed. It was an overwhelmed, breathy kind of laugh. She obviously hadn't stood up to Monica before.

"Hey." I said as she began to look down at the table. When she didn't look up I used my free hand to push her chin up lightly so that she was looking into my eyes. She looked so defeated.

"Look it was really nice of you to help me with my books, but you don't have to do this. I don't mind." Claire seemed close to tears.

"I don't have to?" I asked, and she nodded slightly. I could tell she had debated this in her mind for a while now. "Well that's cool…" I let my comment hang in the air for a second, but when Claire tried to turn her face away I added, "Is it ok if I _want _to?" I punctuated my sentence with a smile and a light peck on her lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Claire's Point Of View

As the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson most people stood and began to pack up. People instantly started talking, but when me and Shane stood up the whole room hushed. I felt terribly awkward as I walked over to Shane and it was still silent. It shocked me that Shane casually draped his arm around my shoulder, like the whole class wasn't staring at us. I could almost hear all the girls thinking _Why not me? Why Claire? _But I almost didn't care. For the first time in years I felt like I wasn't alone; like if I fell, there would be someone to pick me up. But it was difficult to ignore Monica ripping me from Shane.

"Hey!" I heard Shane yell, but I was already falling. I tried to turn and put my hands out to stop my body from crashing painfully to the floor but as I did that a lot of pressure was put onto my hands. There was a white hot flash of pain as all of my weight was put on one wrist and I cried out as it was crushed. "Claire!" My wrist was throbbing wildly as I felt a set of strong hands close around my shoulders and turn me over so that I was lying on my back. I cradled my hand to my chest, protecting it from any further attacks. Shane place his hand over mine and said softly "Let me see." I don't know why but I trusted him, but I let him take my injured hand in his. The throbbing increased and I whimpered slightly. "I think it's sprained. Let's get you to the nurse." I nodded and stood up slowly with Shane supporting me with a strong arm around my waist.

"But… but Shane… Don't you want to stay with me?" Monica stepped in front of us. She was just starting to look pathetic. I might have felt sorry for her if she hadn't just thrown me to the floor.

Shane sighed at my side and looked at Monica with a look of pity and distain. "Sorry Monica, but I think I'm going to stay with Claire." Monica _still _didn't move. "Monica, just go away." I was shocked at Shane's blunt tone, but it seemed to be the only thing that could penetrate her thick skull. I saw a flash of pain in her eyes, but she quickly covered it up with a huff and an over the top hair flick.

"Shane, honey, you just made the biggest mistake of your life." She sneered at me. "Watch your back, Claire." And with that she turned and strutted out, with two girls running after her.

"She just called me honey…" Shane muttered and I turned to face him.

"Shane, you notice that but not the fact that she pretty much threatened both of us?" Shane cut me a wonky smile that melted my heart just a little bit.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." He winked and leaned in for a quick kiss. When he pulled away he whispered in my ear, "Everyone is watching us." I looked around and sure enough they were. I could feel my cheeks turning red and I buried my face in Shane's muscular chest. He smelt so good, like coffee and spice. "Ok then," He laughed softly as he hugged me closer. "Let's get you to the nurse."

Shane's Point Of View

I sat down on one of the plush chairs in the cramped nurse's office. All over the walls were posters warning me of diseases that I had never thought about before. But I wasn't concentrating on the walls; I was looking straight at Claire. She looked so small and fragile in that over sized chair, with the nurse wrapping a bandage around her wrist. When she noticed me staring she blushed and smiled. I reached over and took her unharmed hand in mine. It was still cold and it squeezed mine when the nurse had to bend her wrist. I had to hold myself back and not plant a kiss on her rosy lips.

"Ok, well that's that." The nurse said as she finished with Claire's hand. "Try not to use it and it should be as good as new in a week or so." She smiled kindly at Claire and then looked over at me, her expression morphing into a mask of disgust. "Now, would you like to tell me how this happened?" _Shit! She thinks I did this! _ I panicked and looked at Claire, but she just smiled up at the nurse.

"Martha, Shane didn't do it." Claire seemed awfully familiar with the nurse, I wonder why that was. "I '_fell'_." She put the emphasis on the 'fell' part and winked at the nurse. It was nice to see Claire so comfortable but it was a bit worrying that she acted like this in a place meant for the ill and/or injured.

"You've been falling a lot recently." Martha obviously knew about Monica then, but why didn't she do anything? "Anyway," she turned back to me "you keep an eye on her for me, you hear?" I saw Claire blush and smile from the corner of my eye but I was completely serious.

"I will, you don't have to worry about that." I smiled, I liked Martha, she seemed like a decent human being; unlike most of the people I had met in this damn town. I stood up and offered Claire my hand. She looked up at me, clearly surprised, but took my hand none the less. I didn't get it, she already knew I liked her, I _told _her that I _wanted _to do this but she still hesitates or tenses up every time I touch her. Hadn't she had anyone there for her before? I led her out of the room and into the hall, it was break now so we twenty minutes to ourselves.

It was quite strange to see Claire so shy again after her being so confident in the nurse's office. She looked up at me. "Thanks Shane, it was really nice of you to come with me." She began to turn around but I stopped her by pushing her chin up to my face lightly and kissing her lips. She kissed back hungrily which made me growl low in the back of my throat. I grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to me and she pulled on my shoulders. We turned around and she leant against the wall. Slowly I put my tongue in her mouth and she responded instantly. But yet again we were interrupted by a cough. I turned around slowly, facing the intruder. There stood a blonde guy, about the same age as me, maybe a little smaller, but he looked furious.

"What?" I asked sharply.

I got a punch in return.

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**I am loving writing this story but I really would love to here all of your ideas, please R&R, it would really make my day if you guys review, and if you want to see something happen in the story please tell me and I might include it (and make sure to give you credit). So yeah, what do you guys think? Updating might slow down a bit as I have loads of revision to do but I will still try :)**

**I love you all,**

**RockPaperRuby xx**


	4. Chapter 4

Claire's Point Of View

I was frustrated that we had been interrupted again but it shocked me to see who the intruder was. _Michael! _I hadn't seen him in years now, since I moved to Morganville, and it was a complete surprise to see him here. He looked, well, the only way to describe it was hot. I hadn't seen him since we were both kids, back then I hadn't paid attention to things like how sexy he looked; by my God. I could_ see_ his abs through his t-shirt and he had massive arm muscles. His blonde hair had gone curly and was mused around his chiselled face. His eyes were just as blue as they had been when I first met him.

_I was only six when I first met him…_

"_Hey, why are you crying?" I heard a small voice from behind me. I looked over and a blonde boy around my age stood there. I wiped my eyes quickly. _

"_I…" I was interrupted by a hiccup, but carried on. "I'm not crying." He put his hand on my skinny shoulder and looked me in the eye. _

"_Please tell me." He walked around and sat next to me on the old and worn wooden bench. _

"_It- Emily tripped me up, and I-I got a rip in my tights." I looked down at the big rip in the knee of my white tights._

_The boy was confused. "But why can't your mum or dad get you some?" But I just cried harder. To my surprise the boy reached over and hugged me tightly. I cried into his shoulder and he stroked my hair. I pulled back softly and wiped my nose on the back of my hand. _

"_My mum is going to get angry again." I said quietly and lifted up my sleeve to show a rugged and bloody scar all the way up my pale arm. I heard him breathe in sharply. When I looked up to him he was staring into my eyes. He slowly leaned forward and kissed me, pulling away after a second. _

_That was my first kiss._

"What?" Shane asked harshly.

And then Michael punched him.

Shane staggered back up against the wall, obviously surprised, but when I saw him getting ready to throw a punch himself I stepped in front of him, facing Michael.

"Michael…" I was interrupted by Michael lunging in and hugging my fiercely. I hugged him back and whispered in the crook of his neck, "I'm so glad to see you." I pulled back and looked at him for a few seconds. _Same old Michael._

I punched him as hard as I could in the arm.

Shocked he rubbed his arm; it couldn't have hurt that much as I really don't know how to throw a punch, and he said, "What?"

"You think you can show up here, after I haven't seen you in years might I add, and punch Shane in the face?" I looked back at Shane and he was clutching his nose and looking at me and Michael. I walked over to him slowly. "Let me see."

He lifted his hand from his face and I was shocked to see his nose all crooked and covered in blood. I turned back to face Michael with my hands on my hips.

"You complete and utter arse!" I gestured wildly to Shane's face. "What the hell were you thinking?" At his silence I said, "Oh, that's right, you weren't thinking!" For the first time in years, I heard him speak.

"Claire, I-I'm sorry…" He looked down at the floor. Normally I wouldn't have forgiven him, I would have stayed angry, but I hadn't seen him in years, and the last time we saw each other was when we were both in tears at me leaving him.

Michael's Point Of View

"_Claire, do you have to go?" I pleaded for the thousandth time. I could feel the tears in my eyes as we walked to the car._

"_Michael, you know I have no choice. I actually have family in Morganville." I huffed._

"_What if she's as bad as your mum? What will you do then?" I challenged, but I knew she was just as scared as I was. _

"_Look Michael, I'm only ten years old and my parents," She paused and then corrected herself, "My **abusive** parents died when I was eight. I have been lived in care homes for two years now and only ever had one friend." I interrupted her, hurt._

"_Hey! I've been a great friend." She smiled at me apologetically._

"_Yeah, but I had to crawl through fences and run through the woods to see you. The girls in the last care home I was in were rough. You see the burns on my face? And the big bald spot here?" She paused and pointed at her face then at a patch of skin where her light brown hair used to grow. "I got this when some girl poured bleach in my shampoo bottle." I already knew all of this but it still hurt me to hear the things that she had to go through. "And you know there were a lot more incidents before that. They finally tracked down some family for me to stay with, the least I can do is try." _

_Throughout the speech tears had been gathering in both of our eyes but when I saw the tears roll down her cheeks I couldn't stop the same happening to me. I fastened my arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. _

"_I love you." I whispered into her hair. I felt her tense and I was scared that she wouldn't say it back. But she soon relaxed. _

"_I love you too."_

And now I see her making out with some other guy.

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**A big thank you to anyone that reviewed. It really makes my day to see the reviews that you guys have posted. I was just thinking that it would be really great to see what you guys want to happen in the story so I would _love _if you guys could give me any ideas, no matter how undeveloped they are, of what you want to happen, and I will make sure to give you credit. My main dilemma is that I began this story thinking that Claire would stay with Shane, but as I was writing this chapter I kind of fell in love with Michael (and in the books I am defiantly _pro_ Shane and Claire). **

**Anyway, I would love if you could tell me... **

_**Shane or Michael?**_

**As always, lots of love,**

**RockPaperRuby xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm really sorry I haven't uploaded for a few days, but the uploads will slow down notably now as I am back to school and have many exams to study for. I know, it's a very common excuse but it _is _true. **

**Thank you all for your patience.**

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Shane's Point Of View

Claire just kind of just… broke. She just fell to floor and started sobbing. She looked so small as she lay there, crying, that I was shocked. Sure, she had looked small before but now she looked like small gust of wind would send her crashing against a wall. I knelt down beside her but I felt useless. I had no idea what was going on. Rested my hand on her hip as her back was towards me and she was hunched over, and looked up at Michael. He was looking down at her, and I was surprised that I didn't see shock clouding his face, but warm understanding. What the heck?

"Claire?" Michael said before he walked over, crouched down and rested his hand on Claire's shoulder. "Claire, can you hear me? Just nod." Michael stared at Claire, looking for any sign of movement. For a few seconds nothing happened and I could feel Michael getting increasingly worried. Just as I was going to break the silence and ask Michael what to do Claire's head bobbed ever so slightly, signalling a small nod for Michael. I let out a breath that I hadn't realised that I was holding and looked from Claire to Michael, just to see if he had any idea what to do. He looked weirdly calm for the current situation and I could only assume that he had done this before.

Claire's weeping slowed and they soon dissolved into hiccups as I rubbed her back in small circles. Michael soon fastened his grip to her waist, raising that green monster inside of me just a little bit, and sat her up, supporting her back well. Her head lolled slightly to the side, as if she was asleep, but she soon straightened her neck. As she opened her eyes it was a little freaky to see her eyes focus on my face within milliseconds of them opening.

"Shane, I'm really sorry you had to see that. I… I didn't…" She trailed off into mumblings that were impossible to decipher. But I got the general message.

"Claire." I stopped her mid-babble. "Why the _hell_ are you sorry?" She tightened her grip on Michael's t-shirt as her body threatened to fall back to the cold ground.

"I just- I don't want you to get freaked out. There are a lot of..." She looked momentarily panicked but carried on none the less, "_different_ things about me, and I-" She had to hold back another sob. "I didn't want you thinking I was weird or anything." I really didn't know what to say to that.

"So this has happened before?" I asked and Michael sighed. I really wanted to punch him in his smug face right then, to return the favour, but I guess Claire was already pretty shaken.

"Yeah…" She paused and looked down. "I feel like I should explain some things…" Claire moved her gaze from the floor into my eyes to see what my response would be.

"Might be useful, yeah." And I gave her a small smile.

Claire's Point Of View

_I checked over my shoulder one last time as I began to climb through the rugged hole I had made by pulling at the fence for hours. I looked down at my hands once I was though. I could just about make out the deep gashed __in__ my palms and the inside of my arms from prying open the fence. _So worth it, _I thought as I pictured Michael's face, smiling at me in the dark. There had been a few rumours that my aunt had been located, but I could only think of Michael, and how it was going to be __heart destroying to leave him. __He had been with me as I moved from the care home to care home. We always found a way to see each other. And tonight was no exception._

_I began the long hike to where I told Michael I would meet him. I really don't know what went wrong. I was fine until I didn't recognize where I was, a few trees had changed, and suddenly I was lost. I would have normally carried on and figured it out eventually, but a black pain that was expanding in my chest, and it just got larger when I tried to walk away. I fell to the ground, not knowing what else to do, and cried. I wept loudly for what must have been close to twenty minutes until I heard some twigs snap. I froze in fear, no sobbing to be heard from my blue lips. Slowly the snapping got closer and I felt as if my skull would implode. I felt a set of soft hands clasp my shoulders and turn me over; and I couldn't even make a sound. Not a whisper left my mouth, but then I was terrified as I could no longer breathe._

_A boy lent his face over my body and looked me in the eyes. It took me a moment to focus but when I did I could have wept for joy. _Michael. _Thank God. But I still couldn't breathe. _

"_C-Claire?" He stuttered out. I noticed a steady stream of tears leaking out of the corner of his blue eyes. I had now regained control of my body and I clawed at my throat. I think he got the message as my face turned scarlet. "Oh my… Claire… I-I think I know what to do, just close your eyes." I honestly couldn't argue._

_His lips touched mine. It would have felt nice and romantic if I wasn't dying. He forcefully breathed life back into me. My vision began to twist and turn but Michael never gave up. He alternated from pushing on my chest and helping me breathe. After a little while, it was all under control. I sat up and he pressed his warm hand on my back to stop my body from hitting the leaves again. I leant into him. For a ten year old he was really strong._

"_Hey." He said after a minute of comfortable silence. I smiled to myself. _

"_Hey." It was weird that I didn't feel awkward or embarrassed around him. __"Well, I guess thanks for saving my life." I said, and he threw his head back and laughed._

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**Hey guys, a _lot _of people have been asking if Eve will be in this story, and yes she will be soon (in the next chapter or two, I hope). I have spent quite a bit of time thinking of how to place her in the story and I think I've got a good idea, just bare with me for a while.**

**As always please R&R (it means a lot even if you don't think it does) and thanks for sticking with me ;)**

**Love RockPaperRuby x**


	6. Chapter 6

**I am so sorry it's been such a long wait for this chapter, and I know it's a very short one but I have been really busy and stuff, and I will really try to update more often because I hate leaving this story for so long.**

**Anyway, on with the chapter...**

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Claire's Point Of View

I told him everything. About my parents abusing me, then dying, getting sent to care homes, my freaky panic attacks, everything. It felt weirdly... _freeing_ to get all of this off my chest, to share my problems with someone (apart from Michael I guess). Throughout my mini rant Shane just sat there, brown eyes staring intently at me, absorbing all of the information I threw at him. We had two back-to-back free periods so I was free to talk as much as I wanted.

There was a moment half way through when I thought to myself _why am I telling this boy that I had only just met everything thing to do with my life? _And I really couldn't explain it if I wanted to, I just got the feeling that I could trust Shane, and if he wanted to be in my life I guess he should know this just in case I ever need help.

"So… yeah…" I finished slowly, looking around the empty hall that we were sat down in. I was surprised that no one had even walked by this large corridor but I was very glad that nobody but Shane and Michael could hear what I saying.

Small tears had built up in my eyes during my talk, but I wasn't particularly sad. I think it was just the amount of effort that it took me to say all of this out loud had worn me down, but I was grateful that it was all out in the open now.

Shane was still looking at my, at first I thought he was just thinking about the pile of information that I had just dumped on him but then the little voice in the back of my head whispered _he's just thinking of a way to get away from you, freak. _I tried to push it away, but it remained in place, if anything it just got louder. _Did you ever think he liked you? Idiot._ I was surprised at the amount of venom that was in that voice.I hated looking so vulnerable to Shane, I might as well have been handing my heart on a silver platter to him, but I still whispered,

"Shane, please, say something…" I trailed off as my voice caught in my throat. _Don't cry you __wimp__, he doesn't even care about you. __Why did you ever think he did? _

To my surprise, and delight, Shane leaned over me and hugged me hard. At first I was shocked, but then I melted into him, into his lean and muscular chest and warm, welcoming arms. I rested my head in the crook of his neck. He slowly pulled away, but our noses were still now only a few inches away from touching. I could fell Michael's hand that was holding mine tighten but I ignored it, Shane had my undivided attention.

"I'm so glad I met you, Claire Danvers." He smiled at me and as I smiled back he gave me a small kiss on the tip of my nose.

"And I, you." I said quietly as Shane pulled away, fully this time, and sat opposite me and Michael.

I turned to Michael. "So, where are you staying now?" I said, curious.

Michael smiled bashfully at me and picked at his old worn trainers that were crossed at the ankles below him. "I- umm- thought that maybe I could stay with you and your aunt?" At my scared expression he rushed to cover his tracks. "B-But I have enough money to get a hotel room, you know, if... if you want…" He trailed off, blushing furiously. He was so cute when his pale cheeks were flushed with pink but I, yet again, had some explaining to do.

"No, no, no, that's not what I- I mean I would love that but…" It was my turn to study my feet now. "Well I kind of don't live with my aunt." I looked up to see both Michael's and Shane's faces clouded with confusion.

"Why?" The obvious question was asked.


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh hey there! Long time no see, huh... oh yeah, sorry that. I do have quite a few reasons as to why I haven't uploaded anything in what - 4 months... more? - but I don't _really_ think that you want to hear it. Just know that I'm sorry and will try my hardest to update a chapter or two before I go to Spain and Ireland (woo summer holidays). I have really missed you guys and I know that this is a very short chapter but I am going to try and update again super soon to make up for it **

**RockPaperRuby xxx**

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Claire's Point Of View

_I took one final look inside of the old taxi. I told myself that it was to make sure that I hadn't forgotten anything but I was lying to myself and I knew it. I was petrified of moving on with my crappy life that I was just making an attempt to stall the inevitable. I don't really know what I wanted to happen in those few seconds, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred. I had been looking in the taxi for so long that the driver said in his gruff, uneven voice,_

"_Hurry up will you? I don't have all day to wait around for you." Apologizing, I stepped out of the taxi and looked up and down the street. All of the houses looked boringly alike. I thought back to the conversation between my social worker and I. She had told me that my Aunt Jennifer was located, but she wanted nothing to do with me. I had heard rumors about me having some family out there and ever since I heard that I had been very hopeful. Stupidly so, it would seem. So I packed up my stuff and one night I snuck out, met Michael to say our goodbyes and then… off to the rest of my life._

_The taxi had driven off after I paid him for the (very overpriced) trip. So I stood there, in the light of the early mor__ning staring at her house. _What if she doesn't like me? _Questions like these had been racing through my mind for the whole taxi ride, but it was better than not knowing. I had to see for myself, and to be honest, who would turn away a thin, beaten little g__irl that turned up at their doorstep, with no home and no family? _

_Taking in a few shaky breaths I slowly shuffled my large suitcase up the steps of the house and, blinking back the panicked tears, knocked softly at the door. _

_I waited… and waited… and wait__ed. _Maybe she didn't hear me?

_Just as I was about to knock again the door was pulled forcefully open. I looked up slowly from staring at my feet and saw the perfect mum; classic brown, wavy locks, big comforting blue eyes, floral dress under an old fashioned frilly apron, and clutching a spatula in her hand. Behind her I saw two little girls and an older boy, probably about my age, sat at a table, waiting for their meal to be served. But there was something wrong with her. Although a second ago I could swear her eyes held a ghost of a laugh and a smile, but when she looked at me her face hardened and her eyes narrowed. I heard her mutter a soft curse word up her breath. She looked back at her children with a forced smile and said,_

"_Ok kids, I'll be back in a second." She then roughly pushed me out of the way of the door, stepped out into the front garden in her glossy red high heels and closed the door firmly behind her. I was shocked, she seemed so kind but she whipped her face around to face me to reveal a furious expression. She shook her head, her perfect hair following her movements, and laughed bitterly. "I didn't think they were sending you." She said, a sarcastic smile spread across her red-painted lips. _

"_Ummm… they didn't, I just thought… I-" I was cut off by a sharp, vicious laugh. _

"_Let me guess. You thought, if you came to my door, with that _sorry _looking face of yours and _self-inflicted _cuts and bruises that you would be welcomed warmly into our loving family and a__ll of your problems would disappear. Am I right?" I was stunned, unable to utter a word. __Again she laughed bitterly. "Get out of my face, and don't even think about talking to my children, they don't need someone like you in their lives." Her face was like stone, harsh and cold. _

_I couldn't believe it. _

_In that moment I realized what a horrible mistake I had made. The taxi had already drove off (and even if he was still here I wouldn't have enough money to pay for the journey back home anyway). I was stuck here, with the only family I had looking at me like I was some dirt on her immaculate shoes. I didn't want to think that I had left Michael, the only person in this world who cared about me, all the way back home, with no way of ever seeing him again._

_When I didn't move Aunt Jennifer shoved roughly at my shoulders, causing me to stumble down the steps that led up to the house, tripping over my bags, and landing on my back with a loud thud. _

_Aunt Jennifer sneered and added, _

_"Have a nice life, kid." And with that she turned around and shut the door._


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there guys :) I decided that I wouldn't make you wait long for this chapter. I'm actually quite please with it and I hope you guys are too. I feel bad that I haven't put a warning on this story but I didn't to give the story line away. But I think this chapter gets kind of heavy near the end so just watch out. There might be something that could be triggering.**

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Claire's Point Of View

At the end of the day I met Michael and Shane at the school gates as promised. I hugged Michael and Shane in turn. I had to take them to where I was living, although I had protested, they had insisted. I really wasn't looking forward to this.

"Ok... Well let's go... I guess." I said but before we could turn to leave I heard a girls voice yell out,

"Hey, Shane!" We all turned to see who was yelling and we saw a girl striding towards us. She was incredibly Goth, with a pale face, blue lips and heavy eyeliner paired with a short black dress with many buckles and a low neckline. A small coffin necklace was placed delicately around her neck.

She stomped over to us in heavy black combat boots and hugged Shane quickly. I felt a pang of jealousy deep in my chest. How come she's so friendly with Shane?

"So I see you've made some new friends here, Shane. Must have been _pretty _difficult for you." She said sarcastically while smiling slyly at Shane.

"Love you too. Well, Eve, this is Michael and Claire." He said gesturing to us two. "Michael, Claire, this is Eve, my step-sister." _Step-sister… Glad that came out before I could look like an idiot. _Eve gave me a sweet wave and I returned it hesitantly. She turned to Michael and smiled at him and gave him a flirtatious wink. Michael's cheeks went deep pink and he waved awkwardly at her. It was so obvious that they liked each other, even if they hadn't said a word to each other. Michael was such an open book.

"Eve, can I talk to you for a second?" Shane asked pulling her away from us suddenly.

"Sure thing." She waved at us again and walked away with Shane. I turned to look at Michael, his cheeks still vaguely pink and his eyes followed Eve as she walked away and began talking to Shane.

He noticed me looking up at him and smiled, "What?" I just laughed at him. I stepped up on my tiptoes and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You are too easy to read." He looked confused, frowning at me. "Even though I haven't seen you in years, I can tell that you like her." I smiled cunningly up at him.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He huffed and crossed arms, looking over at Eve and Shane.

"Oh come off it. And anyway, she likes you too." Michael couldn't resist looking back at me slightly.

"How can you tell?" He asked me, his guard still up. "I mean, you don't even know her."

"Oh come on. As if the wink wasn't enough to tell." I grinned and he just smiled happily and put his arm around my shoulder. We both looked over at Eve and Shane this time.

"I always thought that it was going to end up being you and me, you know." He said softly.

"Yeah," I muttered. "So did I." I could honestly say that I had had many fantasies about Michael appearing out of the blue and we'd live happily ever after. None of those thoughts involved anyone else. But maybe this was for the best.

"I feel like this is more who we are, friends." He said quietly. He faced me once again. He bent down and whispered in my ear, "But I did travel _all_ this way…" he trailed off and I pressed my lips to his.

His lips were soft and he tasted like mint, but unlike my kisses with Shane, this one was very friendly. We deepened the kiss quickly but pulled away shortly after the kiss began. "Thanks, I needed that." I said, red rising in my cheeks.

"Me too." He said and kissed me on the cheek. And with that, we were reunited. Maybe not in that way that I had dreamed of, but I think that if we began a relationship and it didn't work out, it would be so awkward and possibly ruin our friendship. And besides, I had Shane, and I'm pretty sure that Michael was going to get Eve very easily. We were going to be fine, I could just tell.

Shane and Eve made their way over to us and Shane placed his arm around my shoulders.

"Is it ok that Eve comes with us?" He asks me quietly as Eve and Michael were talking. Eve seemed like a really nice person, and if Shane was alright with her, then I was too. I still didn't know why I trusted him so much, but my gut was telling me to _just go __with it._

"No problem, but did you explain…?" I asked slowly.

"Not in full detail, but she knows the basic outline, I didn't want to tell her too much in case you weren't ok with it." He kissed the top of my head.

"No, I'm fine." I felt him tense. "What?" I asked. I saw him looking at Michael and Eve, and when he saw that they were still talking avidly he started,

"About you and Michael, I don't want to get in the middle of anything, so just tell me now and-" I cut him off by pressing my lips to his forcefully. He kissed me back with even more intensity. His tongue gently licked my lips, asking for permission, and I opened my mouth for him, embracing him fully. His hands moved down my body, gently brushing my sides, and rested on my waist. My arms were around his strong neck to allow me to steady myself as he was quite a bit taller.

It all just felt so incredibly right, but I could feel my cheeks redden as I heard a loud wolf whistle. I pulled back, but our noses were only a few inches apart, and Shane made a frustrated growl in the back of his throat.

"I just can't catch a break, can I?" I laughed and kissed him gently.

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I stood in front of my door and was suddenly very nervous and extremely embarrassed. The red and blue graffiti on my front door was enough to warn off any passing stranger, and the grey, cracked windows would suggest that nobody lived in the house. The plants in the front garden were overgrown massively, covering the path the led to the house, but you could see where someone had walked through the shrubbery many times. When I stopped outside of the door the others carried on, obviously not thinking that someone could possibly live in there. But Shane noticed my absence and looked behind him, and seeing me outside of a very run down house – anything but a home for a young girl – I heard him mutter _Shit…_

But he hollered for Michael and Eve, who had been talking non-stop with each other, and walked over to me.

"Welcome to 'Casa Del Claire'" I joked sadly as he wrapped his arm around my small waist. I leaned my head into his arm, not even being able to reach his shoulder with my head, and sighed.

"Well, let's just go in. Rip the bandage off." I smiled sweetly up at him. I walked through the greenery of my front garden, with Shane following close behind. I took a deep breath and reached my hand through the mail box. I winced as a few jagged edges of metal cut into my skin. I undid the lock and slid my arm out into the open air. I tried to pull the sleeve of my black top down as fast as I could, but not before Shane got a good look at my arm. I heard him gasp sharply and before I could reassure him that I was fine he had grabbed my hand and pulled up my sleeve again.

Many angry looking scars were cut into my arm. Most were on the inside of my arms, but there were a few deep looking gashes on the outside.

"Where are they from?" He asked still looking at my arm and gently tracing some of the scars with his fingertips.

"A collection of sources." He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I sighed deeply and pulled up my other sleeve revealing much of the same thing. By this time Michael and Eve had joined us. I heard Eve gasp but Michael stayed silent. He had seen a few of these scars, but many were new. I began by pointing to one of the largest scar on my forearm. It had healed a bit but still looked relatively new "Well this one pretty bad. Before I found this place I had a few other homes, but I lived on the streets a lot. And while I was eating some food one night on the street, some guy came up with a knife, slashed me on the arm and stole my food and some other things." Everyone was silent for a few seconds, a lot to take in I guess, but then I heard Eve ask,

"When was that?" I thought back, and realised that it wasn't too long ago.

"A little over three weeks ago. I found this place that night." I said gesturing to the house.

"What about this one?" Shane asked, gently prodding at the worst scar of my collection. It took up a large part of the inside of my forearm, well over half of the space. It was aged a lot but still looked nasty and painful. I looked down at my feet and said quietly,

"My mum did that to me. I was eight and my dad and her were rushing out of the house, something about the police knowing something. And she had gotten it into her head that I had tipped off the police. She just grabbed my wrist, pulled out a massive knife from her coat and cut me. She kicked me a few times for good measure, yelling insults and curses at me and then… then she ran." I paused. "That was the night that they both died, shot by the guys that they must have pissed off." Although Michael knew these things, and Shane was pretty clued in, Eve had no idea the extent of what I had gone through.

She walked over to me, pushing Shane away slightly and grabbed me in a tight hug. I was shocked, but wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. I felt her shoulders shaking and once she had let go I saw that all of her glorious Goth makeup had run down her cheeks because of the tears still running from her eyes.

"I- I didn't… I couldn't have guessed that you… I- I-" She babbled and I smiled sadly.

"It's ok." I really smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. I heard Shane open the door, mutter a curse –_he was probably just shocked at the state of the house- _but then he suddenly yelled out,

"Shit- Claire!" He managed to get out before he was shoved back by a hooded figure. The figure raised his hand, fist clenched, to punch him in to face. But without thinking, I screamed and ran over.

After the first punch the guys hand was drawing back for another punch. I grabbed it and twisted it around expertly. I got a pained yelp from the man as his arched his back it agony. I shoved my knee into the back of his knee, causing him to fall over. I let go of his hand and began kicking him repeatedly, but after the blow to his balls, I don't think that he had much chance getting up any time soon.

But suddenly I recognized who I was kicking. _It's him! _The man who had stabbed me three weeks ago was cowering at my feet. I looked down at the scar that he left on my arm and all I saw was red and I raised my foot again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys :) I'm not _overly _happy with the chapter, I don't know why but yeah, I'm not. I am getting to the end of the story soon, but I can't say how many chapters are left. I don't write along with plans so I add bits and bobs in as I go. I would just like to thank you guys so much for reading, commenting, following and favorite-ing this story. You may not think I notice but I get a big smile on my face whenever I see a new comment or what not. So thanks, I write for you guys :)**

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Shane's Point Of View

I watched Claire as she interacted with the guy that had erupted from the house and punched me. I don't know what happened, she was a shy little girl like, five minutes ago, but then she had grabbed him and thrown him to the floor with a series of calculated jabs and twists. I had to admit, she looked hot, but I just feel like a girl of Claire's age _shouldn't _be able to do that. But I guess you don't live on the streets without learning a thing or two.

But then a _really _strange thing happened. She stopped mid-kick, and just froze. She was looking at him with her hair fallen forward around her face but I could just about make out her terrified, wide eyes, her mouth fallen slightly open in shock. She then looked down at her arm – I noticed – the arm that had a large scar on it, the one she had got from a street rat that had stabbed her. When she looked up suddenly at the man groaning on the floor her hair had fallen back around her shoulders and I could see her eyes had hardened over, and icy chill ran up my back.

She looked _pissed. _

She suddenly resumed kicking him in the gut with about ten times more force than before. I could tell she wasn't going to stop, and this man had begun to bleed on the decking.

I rushed over to her and tried to pull her back from her shoulders but she refused to move, being weirdly stable as she carried on kicking madly at the body on the floor.

I snaked my strong arm around her skinny waist and lifted her off the ground to pull her back. The man's blood had begun to run over her shoes, and when she kicked out, trying to get away from me, blood flicked off and hit Eve and Michael.

"A little help guys?" I asked, exasperated and panicked that Claire was still trying to get at the guy bleeding out on the ground. She was covered in splatters of blood from her fight and as she twisted and turned blood flew around the space and smeared on my clothes and skin. It felt horribly warm - fresh.

I heard Eve yelp through her freaked tears but I saw Michael move to pick the body up.

"I'm going to take him to hospital." Michael yelled over Claire's screaming and Eve's crying once the bloody body was over his shoulder. He set off at a jog.

Claire was still screaming and kicking trying to get out of my grasp. She squirmed around in my arms and I did my best to keep a hold on her. But because I was paying attention to holding onto her, I didn't see her fist flying through the air. Not at all...

Claire's Point Of View

With my hands clasped over my mouth, I backed away from Shane. I was so scared. I could hardly see through my tears. _What did I do?! What the hell is wrong with me?! _I panicked but I could feel an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a hug.

_Shane. Why? Why are you still here when I just punched you in the face? _He still had one hand holding his nose with one hand but he held onto me until I stopped crying. I felt sick, covered in this man's blood and bruised knuckles. But soon I was able to stop my uncontrollable crying. I sniffed and shuffled back looking at my shoes as he let go, I couldn't bear to look at the damage that I had done.

"Claire?" Shane asked, but I still couldn't look up. I just didn't understand why he was still here. I was crazy. A creep freak. And yet, after seeing my nearly kill a man and punch him in the face, he was still here. I felt a hand lift my chin so I _had _to look Shane in the eyes and it hurt. It hurt so much to look at his bloody nose. It hurt to look at the pain that I had caused him. "Claire it's OK. I'm fine." Shane smiled slightly.

"No you're not. I'm so sorry Shane." I whispered as I cried. "Shane I – I – he was the one who… who…"

"Yeah?" Shane prompted, slightly confused.

"He was the one who stabbed me. He nearly killed me and I thought I had… I thought that I had gotten away from him." I felt Shane stiffen as I told him but I guess he thought that I was already pretty shaken so he got over that one pretty quickly. And I am so glad that he did.

He leaned forward slowly, and kissed me softly. I reciprocated eagerly, placing both of my hands at either side of his head, pulling him closer to me. His arm that had rested on my waist pulled me into him forcefully. I winced as I tasted a slight metallic hint of blood as I kissed him and I felt a twang of regret but as Shane worked his lips and tongue I soon forgot about it and concentrated on kissing Shane was ferocity. But I had to pull away eventually, yet we didn't go far. Well, not until I heard a slight cough and Eve say,

"Oh, hi guys. Yeah, so… I'm still here and just wandering what to, y'know, do? Not that watching my brother get some isn't fascinating." My cheeks instantly flushed red as I buried my head into Shane's muscular chest.

"Thanks Eve." Shane muttered sarcastically, hugging me to him. I soon pulled back and said to Eve,

"Sorry about that." I smiled and turned back at Shane and my smile faded. "Shane, I am _really _sorry that you got mixed up in that. I think that has only happened like, twice." I looked down at my feet.

"Claire, it's fine, I was just scared for you. I am getting used to being punched in the face now." He smiled sweetly as I looked up at him.

"I thought that I had stopped doing those things. I got kicked out of one of my care homes because I had attacked a girl, it happened just like that. I just saw red and all my senses left me. I'm so sorry."

Shane made a frustrated growl in the back of his throat. "Stop apologizing. It's fine, honestly. I'm just glad that you're OK."

"OK, OK…" There was a pause, nobody really knowing what to do. "Well… I guess we should wait inside for Michael." I said, picking at my nails nervously.

"Yeah, I guess we should." Shane said and turned towards my broken, run down house. In a way, it was a lot like me.

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**You guys can check out my tumblr if you are feeling extra kind and lovely- - or - - if you want to, feel free to talk to me on there :) or just PM me here. As usual please review and what not, I would love to hear from you guys, please don't be shy. **

**I am aware that I am now starting to sound a little creepy, so I'll go now :)**

**Love RockPaperRuby xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**H****ey guys :) Nice to see you again. I know this is a super short chapter but I wanted to get _something_ uploaded before I go to Spain and Ireland as I won't be able to get anything written or uploaded there. It will be a while until I _am _able to update and for that I want to apologize in advance. Also there was a question wondering what was wrong with Claire. I see it as this:**

**She has had a really crappy and traumatic life and so there are a few of mental issues with her. And sometimes she just can't keep a lid on her anger.**

**Hope that helped anyone that was confused.**

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Shane's Point Of View

The inside of Claire's house was just as bad as – if not worse than – the exterior.

When we walked into the house the first thing that I noticed was that, although the house looked large from the outside, there was only one room. And it was still quite small. Next to a brownish mattress was a messy stack of battered books. The only other thing in the room was a pile of random and out of date clothes. The windows were all blacked out with newspaper and the floor looked like it used to be clean oak planks but now it just looked like it could do with a good wash. I mean, I'm not a clean freak or anything, Eve would argue that I'm a slob, but this looked almost unlivable.

My arm was draped around Claire's shoulders but I just held on to her tighter and tighter the more we looked at her room. I heard her sigh. She walked forward and slumped down on the floor next to the clothes.

"Well, welcome to my world." It was really hard to believe that someone lived here, and the fact that Claire had to suffer here was shit.

"Hey," I said in a small voice, trying to be as gentle as I could. "Are you OK?"

She let out a sad little laugh. "I know that I have lived here for a while now but now that I have brought you guys here it just makes it seem like ten times worse." She paused. "You know I didn't always live alone." She looked up at me from her hands. "But I realized pretty quickly that I was better off alone."

"What happened?" Eve asked curiously.

"After two different _'friends´_ stole from me and beat me up with their _actual_ friends I kind of got the message." I know how this could sound snappy with all the harsh words, but just the way that she was speaking made her sound so small and fragile. I just wanted to scoop her tiny frame up in my arms and kiss her forever. But I just felt as if now wasn't the time. So instead I walked over and sat next to her. Eve sat on her other side and we just stayed there and waited for Michael.

* * *

Soon I saw that Claire was asleep, her head rested on my shoulder and snoring softly. I also noticed that Eve had dropped off and was lying tucked into a ball on the floor. I slowly moved a bit of Claire's hair from where it had fallen across her eyes. I leaned in a placed a small kiss on her forehead and when I looked up Michael was stood at the door, smiling lazily at Claire and me.

"Hey dude." I said to him and asked, "So how's things been?" I noticed how weirdly OK I was about this situation.

Michael scoffed. "Just peachy. I see you managed to bore the girls to sleep." He teased and smiled warmly and I could just see us getting along. But I saw Michael's smile dampen as he looked around at Claire's room. "Huh, I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this. Even her parent's house was better than this."

I looked down at Claire's small angel face and thought of how unhappy she must be, and said "She can't stay here."

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**Not really happy with this chapter but oh well :) Check me out on my tumblrs - or **

******RockPaperRuby xxx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Let me just say sorry. I told you guys that I was going to be going on holiday for a while but I just feel like it has been yonks since I updated so sorry. I started school a little while ago and I just had a bit of writers block. So yeah, more information at the end.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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Claire's Point Of View

I hadn't even realised that I had fallen asleep but I guess it _was _a pretty draining day. But what I didn't expect was to wake up in a warm bed covered in black sheets and a warm feather duvet. In fact the whole room was very… dark. Red and black candles burnt to different stages were placed all around the room while the dark atmosphere was unique but a little suffocating. I was slightly panicked as to where I was but something in my brain said that I was safe. Slowly I stood and walked out of the room.

As I left the room I was met by Shane, who had just finished climbing a set of stairs, holding a tray that held a drink of water and what looked and smelt like chilli. I looked up from the tray that Shane held to see a sheepish grin on his face.

"I thought you might be hungry." He looked down at his feet, shuffling from side to side awkwardly. He looked so cute, and that was not a word I usually used to described guys with, but it was just his shy demeanour was such a contrast to his usual behaviour.

I gave him a warm smile and said kindly "Sure, actually, that would be great." He looked up at me then, a relieved smile and the awkwardness melted from the conversation. But still neither of us moved. "Shall I eat it downstairs or…?" Quickly Shane's cheeks flushed red and he rushed into saying,

"Oh, yeah I guess." He turned and walked down the stairs, with me following him closely. Once I had gotten downstairs I heard a flustered voice at the top of the stairs say,

"Oh! You're up." I turned to see Eve standing there, pink faced even through the Goth rice-powder makeup. Her black hair was slightly mused and her clothes a bit dishevelled; God knows what was going on upstairs. I noticed that Michael wasn't anywhere to be seen. I smirked up at her,

"Having fun? Oh, do you know where Michael is?" I teased. Her face just gained more colour and she looked down at her feet.

"Uh… yeah… he's…" But before she could finish Michael appeared from behind her. He looked more collected than Eve, but I guess he had more time to recover from their shenanigans.

"I'm here." He gave me a cheeky smile; we both knew what he was doing, and he seemed quite pleased with himself. He snaked his arm around Eve's waist and gave her a small squeeze. "What do you need?" I just rolled my eyes at him and his confident behaviour and turned to find Shane.

This house was pretty big, but I located Shane in the sitting room, sat on a worn-looking couch, fiddling with a games controller. A large TV sat in front of the table and there was a bookshelf to the left of it. My chilli and water were on the coffee table in front of him. He was looking down at his hands idly so I guessed he hadn't seen me yet. I crept behind the couch and before he could realise that I was there, I jumped out, my arms flailing madly. Shane didn't even flinch.

"Hey there missy." He smirked at me.

"Oh shut up, it was a valid effort; not my fault that you're un-scare-able." I grinned back at him and walked around the sofa to sit next to him. I was trying my hardest to just act normal when I first met him, but it's just something about Shane that makes me feel at ease and able to be myself completely.

"Just eat your chilli, woman." As I began to reach over to get my chilli and drink he interrupted. "Oh wait, turn to me; I think you have something on your face." My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment but nevertheless I turned to face him. It shocked me to see him so close already and I was even more surprised when he cupped my face in his warm hands quickly and closed the distance between our lips without hesitation. I fell into the rhythm of the kiss easily, moving my hands to thread through his shaggy hair. Our kiss deepened quickly and his hand travelled down my body to rest tightly on my hips. Somehow I ended up on his lap, our tongues moving together easily, like we had been together for years. But I pulled back as Shane's hands moved down a small amount to cup my butt.

"Tut tut tut, not so fast." I grinned at him as I moved to sit back on the couch. "I haven't even had my chilli yet." I picked up the bowl filled with delicious looking chilli and looked back at Shane. He was sat back with a big wide smile plastered on his face and his hands behind his head, looking fully content. Eve and Michael came in then, both looking much more respectable; quite the opposite to me and Shane I guess. Michael, seeing me and Shane both flushed and tousled, gave me a stern look with a blonde eyebrow raised. Again, I just rolled my eyes at him. _He's giving me that look after he spent that time with Eve? I don't think so. _Michael sat on the other side of me on the sofa as I shovelled chilli into my mouth and Eve sat on the floor at his feet. _Wow, this chilli is really good._

After I had finished my mouthful of food I asked, "So I guess this is your house?" Shane sniggered.

"Be kind of bad if it wasn't, don't you think?" I stuck my tongue out at him and his mocking.

"Well it's really nice – even if it isn't yours." I smiled at Eve and she smiled back with gusto.

"Ooo! Let's watch a movie!" Eve's face was bright with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, lets." Michael said and walked out of the room to pick out a movie with Eve.

I finished my chilli and water quickly and curled up to Shane, bending my legs up, resting my head on his shoulder and snuggling into his side. He placed his arm around my shoulders firmly and tilted his head until it was lying on top of mine. When Eve came back with the movie that her and Michael had picked we both had our eyes closed, not asleep, just savouring the moment I guess. Well, nevertheless, the moment was ruined by Eve squeaking and screaming,

"YOU GUYS ARE JUST SO CUTE!" Since I hadn't known she was there I practically jumped out of my skin, but still Shane remained where he was; he had just lifted his head.

"Jeez Eve, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I said jokingly as I settled back to where I was.

"Sorry, it's just Shane was never one to" she used air quotes, "_cuddle_." I could feel Shane's chest rumble with laughter when she said that.

"Not with you, no." He put his finger on his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "I wonder why." Eve just flipped him the bird with a straight face.

Michael came back then with two massive bowls of popcorn, three cans of Coca-Cola and a glass of water. How he managed to carry all of that still baffles me. He placed the popcorn on the table, handed Shane and Eve a coke each and placed the water in my hands.

"I'm guessing you still hate coke?" I smiled up at him and nodded, touched that he had remembered such a small detail, and I felt a twang of guilt in my chest; he had come all this way to find me and when he finally did I was making out with some guy. To be honest, I had thought about Michael every day since I got here, all those years ago.

I tried to talk to him, even if we had witnesses. "Michael-" I was cut off by him saying,

"It's alright. Really." He gave me a warm smile and sat next to me on the couch. And the look in his eye just made me believe him, he _was _ok. He had Eve now, anyway. I put the issue out of my mind as the movie began, I believe it was the first 'Back to the Future' movie, but I soon fell asleep cuddled up to Shane. That was the happiest I had been for years, and it felt

* * *

**I think that this story will be ending very soon, in the next chapter or two (I think but I can't be sure). Thank you so much for reading, I would love to hear what you think so please review and visit my tumblr ( is my pretty tumblr and is my normal/funny one). I will try and update soon but you never know what school work/projects I'll get. **

**Lots of love, **

**RockPaperRuby xx**


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